


No Place Like Home

by resonae



Series: Let your wings be free [2]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Adopted Children, M/M, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 07:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/950282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resonae/pseuds/resonae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of my Wing!Verse. </p><p>Raleigh and Chuck decide to adopt kids. Mayhem and fluffiness ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After Chuck’s wings heal, Herc relocates Raleigh and Chuck to the newly opened Shatterdome. “You’re sending me away,” Chuck says, looking and sounding betrayed. Raleigh winces inwardly, but Herc snorts.

 

“I’m not sending you away.” Herc ruffles his son’s hair. “Kid, like it or not, you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life. I’m relocating the PPDC HQ to Sydney. I was going to send Raleigh there to oversee things while Tendo and I wrap up here, and I figured you’d like to go along.”

 

Chuck looks infinitely relieved after that, and Raleigh reminds himself that Chuck is a sweet kid, really, until Chuck opens his mouth to say, “How come you’re putting Raleigh in charge and not me?”

 

To borrow Herc’s words, Raleigh never knows if he wants to give Chuck a hug or a kick in the ass.

 

\--

 

Herc, Tendo, and Mako relocate 6 months later, and Newt and Hermann follow 2 months after that. “I was gonna stay in Hong Kong, man, but you know. Nostalgia,” Newt says, as Raleigh helps Hermann unload his luggage.

 

7 months after that, Raleigh proposes. It’s in the privacy of their room because Raleigh’s never really been one for public proposals, after cuddly sex that makes Chuck a lot more pliant and happy. Maybe Raleigh’s a bit manipulative. “Hey.” Raleigh says, rubbing Chuck’s cheek. “Take this.”

 

He has his fist closed around a ring, and when Chuck opens his palm, he drops it into Chuck’s palm. Chuck looks at him, looking a bit confused, until Raleigh says, “I figured I should make good on that promise to preen your wings forever. Marry me?”

 

Chuck sits up, slowly, staring at the ring in his hand. It’s simple, a simple platinum band with a white gold band in the middle, embedded with a small diamond. “Fuck,” Chuck says, and Raleigh sits up, grinning because he’s learned to decode all of Chuck’s curses, and that was definitely a good ‘Fuck’, no pun intended. “Aren’t you supposed to get on your knees or something?”

 

“I mean, I figured you’d like to keep your masculinity. Although seeing as I’m the one doing the pitching in bed, you might be the one in the dress down the aisle..”

 

“You’re fucking hilarious. Put this on for me.”

 

\--

 

After they get their papers done and walk down the aisle with Herc, Tendo, Mako, Newt, Hermann and some of the Striker and Gypsy techs in the audience, Herc buys them a house.

 

The correct term, Raleigh thinks, isn’t really a house as it is a gigantic manor complete with an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool, another outdoor pool that connects to the open sea, acres of grass for Max to run all over (Chuck says, “You mean shit all over. Max doesn’t do running”), and a garage that could fit 50 billion cars if Raleigh or Chuck owned any.

 

Raleigh tells Herc, “This is too much.”

 

“It’s all right. Didn’t cost much. Landowners tend not to charge you when you’ve just saved the world. Plus, I’ll be living here, too, when I’m not living at the Shatterdome.”

 

Herc’s _always_ living at the Shatterdome. Mako also moves in, but she is also always living at the Shatterdome, leaving the huge property all for Chuck, Raleigh, and Max (who shits all over the yard, as Chuck predicted. They hire a kid and pay him way too much just to pick up dog shit.)

 

So, Raleigh guesses Chuck’s random outburst isn’t really that _random_ after all.

 

\--

 

They fight less, after the Chuck-rips-his-wings-in-the-storm incident, but they still fight up hell. But most of the time, Raleigh does love Chuck. A lot. He loves Chuck so much it would scare him, except Chuck smiles at him in the morning (in their ridiculously giant bed), and he remembers Chuck loves him just as much.

 

Married life, it turns out, is a lot of sex. Or maybe it’s the privacy of the house and the million-dollar-bed. It doesn’t creak when Raleigh’s pounding into Chuck, and there’s no one to hear them when they scream each other’s name. Raleigh’s still inside Chuck, really, when Chuck says, “I want kids.”

 

The outburst leaves Raleigh a little dumbfounded, but when he finds his voice, he says, “Are you keeping something from me? Like, can you get pregnant?”

 

Chuck gives him a look. “No, you fucking idiot. We’ll _adopt_.”

 

They don’t really talk about it after that, until Raleigh brings it up 3 months later. “I think,” he tells Chuck, “we should adopt.”

 

Chuck’s eyes brighten like a six year old on Christmas and Raleigh wishes he’d done this sooner. They talk more seriously about it, consult Herc and Mako, consult parenting counselors, and then head to the orphanage.

 

\--

 

“We’re looking for older ones,” Chuck tells the headmaster of the orphanage. “The ones that haven’t gotten adopted.”

 

They’d talked about it. Raleigh had wanted to adopt a baby, or a young child, to raise, but Chuck had been adamant about wanting an older child. Not because he didn’t want to go through childraising, but because older children were less likely to be adopted, and there were too many orphans in the world, just only two years after kaiju.

 

The older ones are more hesitant, less willing to come and talk, and after the 5th girl snaps at him, Raleigh is ready to call it a day when he notices Chuck sitting at a windowsill, talking quietly to a boy. He makes his way over. “Hey,” Chuck says, smiling in that special way he has only for Raleigh.

 

“Hey. Who’s this?”

 

“This is Jim.” Chuck grins. “He’s 15.”

 

Jim looks at Raleigh, looking a little defiant, but their eyes meet and Raleigh sees the scared child. He then remembers Chuck was 15 when he first Drifted, and 15 is actually a lot younger than Raleigh had thought. The headmaster had told them that if they found the right kid, they’d just _know_. And Chuck obviously knew, and now Raleigh _knew_. “I can’t go.” Jim says, looking crushed.

 

Chuck looks equally crushed. “Why not?”

 

“Because.” Jim swallows visibly. “I have a little brother. Well. He’s not my real brother. But, you know.” He looks miserable. “I can’t leave Brian.”

 

Raleigh grins. “No problem. Why don’t you both come home with us?”

 

\--

 

They don’t sign papers yet, because Chuck is adamant Jim and Brian have to like their new house before they make anything official. Brian turns out to be a 6 year old American who was the son of tourists when a kaiju hit. Jim had been with him since they entered the orphanage, and when they get out of the old Jeep, holding hands tightly, their eyes widen.

 

“That’s a big house,” Brian says, holding onto Jim’s hand. “Is this gonna be our house?”

 

Raleigh grins when Max comes barking out the door and slobbers all over Jim. Jim frowns like he’s grossed out, but his eyes are smiling. “Yeah, if you like it.”

 

Two days later, Chuck and Raleigh go back and sign papers, and Jim and Brian officially become James Hansen-Becket and Brian Hansen-Becket.


	2. Chapter 2

Max loves Jim. Maybe more than he loves Chuck, which makes Chuck a little sad. Max spends his entire day drooling on Jim’s new shoes, and Jim spends the entire day being fascinated by Max. He even takes up the poop-patrol job, which makes the kid they used before really sad.

 

Most of all, the kids are fascinated by the house. “You really live here?” Brian says, when Raleigh lifts him up. Maybe Brian’s a bit too old to be carried around, but he’s a tiny little kid with tiny wings. Brian’s wings are a bright yellow, and they remind Raleigh of baby chicks. Raleigh’s seen Brian flutter around in the wings and Chuck describes it as _hummingbird_.

 

Brian is way too cute, and also way too smart and sassy for a 6 year old. He’s one of the international orphans who was left where they were lost mostly because orphanages were overflowing everywhere, and his relatives in America were all dead. He’s been in Australia since he was 3, meaning he has a bizarre Australian-American accent. He’s an adorable kid, with eyes that change color every time light hits it differently and stealing Raleigh’s heart to the point he hasn’t really let Brian walk by himself, 6 years old or not.

 

Jim is more serious, more I-have-seen-bad-things. Jim was an orphan since before the kaiju attacks, and his dark eyes are way too deep for a 15 year old. His wings are dark, black-coffee brown, as bigger than Chuck’s and almost as big as Raleigh’s, already. He’s got a mix of accents, too, Australian and tiny bits American talking to Brian so much, and now Raleigh. He’s a hard worker, down-to-earth, and fiercely loyal.

 

The day they move in, he’s holding a roll of paper. “Poster?” Chuck asks. Jim flushes red, and Chuck blinks. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Uh… I was thinking I should throw it out, but I don’t know.”

 

Raleigh frowns, unpacking Jim’s suitcase – it doesn’t have much. “Why? You can put it up. This entire room is too empty, anyway. Wait, you should wait until we paint it the color you want.”

 

Jim unrolls the paper slowly, and looks up at Chuck. “Well. Kinda weird, now.” He shows Chuck and Raleigh the paper. It’s a poster of Striker Eureka, signed in a silver sharpie by none other than Herc Hansen. “He’s my grandpa, now, right?”

 

Raleigh doesn’t know what to say to that, but Chuck obviously does. “Hang it up, and you can practice the signature for whenever you get a bad test grade. That way you can forge your granddad’s signature on it.”

 

“ _Chuck_.”

 

\--

 

That night, Herc clears all of his Marshal duty schedules to meet his new grandkids. Jim is obviously nervous, his eyes wide, until Chuck claps him in the shoulder. “We’re _family_ now.” Jim pauses, and then grins so widely Raleigh wants to hug him so the grin never disappears. Brian flutters over to Jim, and Jim pulls on Brian’s hand so they settle down at the dinner table, grabbing the bread at the center of the table and making crumbles go everywhere until Chuck yells at them.

 

Herc brings the entire Shatterdome crew. Jim and Mako click immediately, and she shows him all the books she brought for him. Newt can’t get enough of Brian and his tiny wings, Hermann starts making calculations about if he’ll keep the tiny wings until adulthood, and Tendo starts explaining LOCCENT tech to Jim, who looks starstruck.

 

Herc is standing in the doorway, looking a little overwhelmed. But Brian flaps up to him, cooing, “Grandpa,” and Herc gets a huge grin on his face and sweeps him up.

 

“Come on,” Raleigh nudges Jim forward, who’s staring at Herc like he’s a god. “You can go up to him and show him your poster.”

 

Jim makes his way over to Herc, who ruffles his hair. Jim shyly hands him the poster, and Herc moves Brian to one arm before taking it. Herc unrolls it, and his eyes soften. “Don’t need that anymore. We’re family now.” He ruffles Jim’s hair again and Jim still rolls it up, carefully.

 

“Mom said that I should keep it, so I can learn to forge your signature on bad test scores.”

 

Next to Raleigh, Chuck protests, “Why am I the mom?!”

 

\--

 

‘Mom’ sticks onto Chuck, and Raleigh becomes ‘Dad’. Mako becomes ‘Aunt Mako’ immediately, and almost swoons the first time she hears it. She takes Jim and Brian shopping for new clothes. “If _you_ shop for them,” she says, her eyes narrowing, “they will end up in ugly sweaters and military clothes.” She pointedly looks at Raleigh’s sweater, and the one Chuck’s wearing.

 

Raleigh frowns. “What’s wrong with my sweaters? They’re comfortable.”

 

“They’re hideous.” Chuck calls, from the kitchen.

 

“You’re wearing one.”

 

“Comfortable, but hideous.”

 

\--

 

They make the best of the time alone, meaning Raleigh pounds into Chuck until his voice is raw from screaming Raleigh’s name. The scratches Chuck leaves down his back throb, but Raleigh grins as he wipes Chuck down. Chuck stretches, yawning, and Raleigh makes him flip over onto his stomach, running his fingers through the feathers. Preening makes Chuck purr and be happy, so Raleigh tends to leave it for times that’s not just-had-sex, since sex also makes Chuck purr and be happy, but he’s neglected Chuck’s wings for a while now.

 

He pulls his fingers through, straightening feathers and plucking out bad growths. Chuck hums under his fingers, his wings spread out wide. “Been a while since we went flying,” he says, and Chuck nods. “We’ll take the kids out to the hill. Maybe over the weekend.” Chuck hums, and Raleigh realizes he’s about to fall asleep, so he moves from the preening to gently press fists into Chuck’s shoulders, easing knotted muscles until Chuck sighs, and his breathing evens out.

 

Raleigh pulls the sheets over Chuck, kissing his spine. There’s still a scar around the joint of his left wing where it was torn out. Chuck’ll always have it, and Raleigh brushes his fingers on it, a jolt of pain twists in his chest. Never again.

 

\--

 

Raleigh’s reading in the kitchen, waiting for the kids and Mako to be back. Max is curled up on his lap, his ears flicking every time Raleigh turns a page, and Raleigh leans back. He doesn’t think his life could get better, really. He’s got his life partner sleeping happily in the master bedroom nearby, his dog is heavy but a solid presence on his lap, and he’s got kids that he already loves to death, nevermind that he’s only known them for three days.

 

He’s grinning happily, rubbing Max’s ears, when Max suddenly perks up and bounds down out of the couch. He waddles happily to the front door, and Raleigh puts his book down, shrugs a shirt on, and goes out to meet Mako and the kids. “Holy,” he says, almost cursing and stopping himself because _Brian_. He’s going to have to remind Chuck about that later. “Mako, what is all of this?” He hisses.

 

Mako and Jim are carrying about twenty bags each, and Mako seems to have gotten Newt’s help along the way, because Newt’s carrying Brian in one arm and a bagful in the other. Jim and Brian are also no longer dressed in the old shirt and pants they had on before. Jim’s dressed in a neat button-up and jeans, and Brian has on khaki shorts and a light blue hoodie. “They need new clothes.” Mako says, matter-of-factly. “An entire new closet.”

 

In hindsight, Raleigh realizes that sending the kids shopping with a woman who is currently the #1 fashion icon in Tokyo might not have been the best idea.

 

Chuck wakes up while they’re almost done with organizing Jim’s things. Jim looks a little overwhelmed with all the clothes, and Chuck stares. “Are we opening a mall?”

 

Mako rolls her eyes and Brian flutters over to Chuck, who ruffles his hair and pulls him down to the ground. Raleigh leans over to press a kiss on Chuck’s lips, and Chuck leans on him, pulls Brian onto his lap to watch him attempt at folding clothes, and yeah. Raleigh’s pretty damn happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Brian is a force of minor destruction. He flaps his tiny wings around everywhere, leaving bright yellow feathers all over the house. Raleigh is pretty certain there are more feathers that he leaves shed than are actually in his tiny wings.

 

He leaves a whirlwind of chaos as he goes. Chuck and Raleigh have long learned to look before they step _anywhere_ , after the first few times they trod on lego pieces and went howling in pain. Every single time Raleigh makes his closet all neat, they go through a tornado by the next morning. When Raleigh tries to scold him, Brian blinks his big eyes at him and says, “But _daddy_ , I had to find something to wear.”

 

Brian is also incredibly smart. “I’m convinced he’ll grow up to be either king of the world, or a criminal mastermind,” Chuck says over dinner one day when Brian and Jim are with their grandpa at the Shatterdome, and Raleigh almost chokes on his food.

 

The only person in the entire household who can yell at Brian is Chuck. Brian’s puppy-dog eyes don’t work on Chuck, and Brian pouts and throws tantrums (Jim swears he never did that at the orphanage), but Chuck stays stern-faced (looks almost like Herc, sometimes) through the tantrums and tells him, “If this room isn’t clean by the next hour, you’re not getting dessert.”

 

Once, Brian had stubbornly refused to clean up his toys, because Raleigh had tried that tactic before and he’d lost to Brian’s puppy face. Chuck, however, neatly ignored him, and watched Jim and Raleigh like a hawk to make sure they didn’t slip Brian any. Brian bawled through dinner, and the rest of the night, but the room was clean by the next morning.

 

Mostly, Raleigh thinks he lets Brian get away with everything because Brian reminds him so much of Chuck. (Raleigh worries about how Brian’s going to function socially when he starts school, as Chuck had social problems.)

 

Jim, on the other hand, is a straight-A student, becomes the student body president of his class only months after he transfers, and is captain of the soccer team. (Chuck and Jim both balk when Raleigh calls it soccer instead of football, but Raleigh’s been calling it soccer for almost 30 years. He’s not gonna fix that too easily).

 

Chuck says Jim’s just like Raleigh, meaning Chuck melts when it comes to anything Jim related. So far, Chuck’s gone to every single one of Jim’s soccer (football) games, donates a bulk sum whenever Jim’s school sends one of those _support your child’s school today!_ envelopes, and slips Jim extra allowance money even after Raleigh’s given him his allowance-of-the-week. (It just goes back into Jim’s bank account, which is connected to Chuck’s and Raleigh’s anyway.)

 

So when Chuck and Raleigh are called in because ‘Jim has hit another boy in his class’, Chuck is all wide-eyed and trembling on the ride over. “Don’t worry, kid,” Tendo tells them as they leave (he’s their emergency babysitter when neither Herc nor Mako are available). “Jim’s probably got good reason.”

 

Raleigh comes into the principal’s office, and sits down. Chuck sits immediately next to Jim, and Raleigh sees the white wings droop. The other parent is a mom, who looks disapprovingly at both of them, her manicured nails tapping on the glass. “Your boy _hit_ my child. Look at William’s face!”

 

Raleigh ignores the woman and her snobby-looking kid. “Jim.” He says, taking Jim’s hand. “Why did you hit William?”

 

Jim mumbles something too low for anyone to hear, but apparently Chuck caught it, because his face goes pale and then a dark red. “Jim?” Raleigh says, worry creeping into his chest. 

“Because. He said things about Mom.” ‘Mom’ is Chuck. The title stuck after the first time, and Chuck had been mortified at first, but had gotten reluctantly used to it. “Said bad things.”

 

Before Jim can ask about it, there’s a loud rap on the door. The principal gets up quickly, and opens it. “Sarah. I’m in a meeting, you know-“

  
“This is about the meeting, Miss Jones.” Raleigh recognizes the voice. It belongs to Sarah Abbott, Jim’s vice-president for the student body. “All of us heard what Will said! I have signatures of almost the entire class body, and even some of the upperclassmen and underclassmen. You can’t suspend Jim! We want him as our class president.” Sarah – for the tiny kid she is, her personality’s as big as her blue wings – wrestles in. She points to Will, who’s starting to look horrified. “He called Mr. Hansen really bad names. Said he deserved to have died in the explosion, said nobody liked Mr. Hansen, and said that Mr. Hansen was a bad parent for Jim to have.”

 

Raleigh goes stiff, and feels Chuck tremble. Jim must have felt it too, because he looks up for the first time since the meeting, looking alarmed. Sarah continues, “I like you, Mr. Hansen! Not even because you saved the world,” she says, shooting a sharp glance at Will and his mother, who’s starting to look a little overwhelmed, “but because you’re a good guy. I go to Jim’s house all the time, and I never thought you were bad, not even once.”

 

The principal sighs. “Thank you, Sarah, but really. This is a private meeting.” Sarah shoves the papers at the principal, who takes it. “Thank you, again. Sarah, as the sophomore vice-president, you’ll be responsible for making sure all of the students outside will be going back to their class. I’ll be taking this into account, I promise.”

Sarah sticks her head up high, gives Jim a hug, and flits out the door. Miss Jones straightens the papers, and looks through them carefully. “Mr. Becket, Mr. Hansen. Mrs. Martin. While I know the action was provoked, I believe that violence should never be condoned in our school. James understands that.” Jim flinched. “Originally, I was going to suspend Jim for three days and unseat him as the sophomore class president. However, I believe that in the case of the class presidency, the student body’s opinion should be taken into account.” She waves to the pile of papers on her desk. “I’ll have to look over it, but it seems most of the student body wants James as the sophomore class president. And James has been doing wonderful work so far this year. I’m still going to suspend James for 3 days, but I’m going to give your seat as class body president more thought.”

 

Mrs. Martin shoots up from her seat. “So you’re not going to punish him.”

 

The principal frowns. “I am. I’m suspending James. As I said, students should never resort to violence, and James will be punished for hitting William.”

 

“But he’ll stay sophomore class president.”

 

Raleigh stands up from his own seat. He physically towers over the other woman, and he steps in between Jim, Chuck, and the woman. She takes a step back. “I think we’re done here.” He says, smoothly. “Miss Jones, I’m sorry for all this. I have one question. Is today going to count as one of Jim’s three days?”

 

“Yes, but only because the fight happened before 1st period started, and Jim missed his classes anyway. Jim can come back to school next Monday.”

 

 “Thanks. I’m going to take my son and my husband out.” He nods to Miss Jones, who stands and nods. He pushes Jim out and tugs Chuck out, who’s still glaring at the floor. He’s aware the mother is stalking toward them, but he ignores it, until Jim cries out in surprise.

 

Chuck reacts before Raleigh can. “Get your hands off my son,” he hisses, tugging Jim back.

 

“Your _son_? You’re not even 10 years older than he is. You really think you’re fit to raise a 15 year old boy?” The woman must not see Raleigh’s icy glare, because she steps up into Chuck’s space. “I’ve read the reports on you. You’re rude, you’ve never had proper rearing-“

 

Raleigh grabs Chuck and swings him behind himself. He’d punch the woman if it didn’t mean trouble for both Chuck and Jim, but Jim’s fists are clenched, his wings quivering in anger, and Raleigh knows he’s thinking them same thing. “You stay the fuck away from my family, or I’ll make sure you regret it.” He spreads his wings to their full size because he _knows_ it’s intimidating, and the woman cowers, her own wings drawn tight to her back.

 

He swings around, his wings sweeping up a gust of air, and tugs his family to their beat-up Jeep. “You sit in the front, Jim,” Chuck says. Jim hesitates, but Raleigh nods, softly, so Jim climbs in the front. The car ride is quiet, and when they come back, Tendo looks at Raleigh when Chuck silently goes upstairs, like it’s Raleigh’s fault that Chuck is like this.

 

“I’ll talk to you later. Listen, can you watch the kids a bit more?” Tendo nods silently, but as soon as Raleigh’s up the stairs, he hears Tendo hiss to Jim, “ _Jimmy, what happened?_ ”

 

Raleigh finds the door to their bedroom unlocked, which is a good thing, all things considering. He sits by the bed, where Chuck has thrown himself face-first and not moved. He quietly starts preening Chuck’s wings, remembers Chuck’s still shy about opening his wings in public, and carefully plucks out the unruly white feathers and straightens the newer ones. “Maybe she’s right,” Chuck says, eventually. “He’s only 9 years younger than me. Who has kids when they’re nine?”

Raleigh wants to punch the woman and her smug face, but he continues preening Chuck’s wings. “You didn’t have him when you were nine. You were 24. It makes a world of difference. Plus, your dad had you when he was 23, right?” Chuck says nothing, but Raleigh knows it’s true already. “And look how you turned out to be.”

 

“Antisocial and unable to fly?”

 

“Well, thankfully, Jim can fly pretty well already and he’s got a school full of friends…” Raleigh smiles. “I think you turned out perfect. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

 

\--

 

Chuck still stays locked up in his bed after that, and Raleigh doesn’t say anything. Tendo finds out, meaning Herc finds out, and Herc shows up at their front door, silently fuming. He locks Raleigh out of the master bedroom for a while, and when Raleigh finally is allowed access, he finds Chuck curled up under the blanket, sound asleep.

 

Herc’s visits usually make Brian hyper and giddy because Herc spoils him rotten, but Brian’s sulking during dinner (without Chuck). “Kiddo, you aren’t happy to see your gramps?” Herc asks, flicking Brian’s button nose.

 

Brian says sadly to his mashed potatoes, “I don’t like it when mommy’s sad.”

 

Herc smiles bitterly. “Yeah, kid. I don’t like it when your mama’s sad, either.”

 

\--

 

Brian sleeps with his grandfather for the next two days, and Raleigh learns Jim’s also been sleeping with Herc, on a futon on the ground while Brian leaves yellow feathers all over Herc’s bed. “Your kids are malfunctioning without you.” Raleigh tells Chuck. “I think your dad is, too.”  

 

“They function fine without me,” Chuck tells his pillow. Raleigh’s been preening his wings every day, although there’s not much to preen after the first day, since Chuck doesn’t really go flying or anything else. Chuck’s been barely eating and hadn’t gotten out of bed (Raleigh hates him a little for the fact that his body still stays in shape).

 

“Actually, yesterday Jim had to throw away his entire science report because he realized he wrote it for the wrong lab, and Brian keeps leaving legos all over the floor and he won’t even change clothes. Come on, Chuck. Brian and Jim love you. Who the hell cares what that bitch and her kid says?” Raleigh rubs Chuck’s shoulders. “Hey, not to brag, but remember when we saved the world? And before that, when you hated my guts?”

 

Chuck looks at him, smiling lopsidedly. “I never hated your guts.”

 

“Gave me a black eye, though.”

 

“You almost broke my nose!” Chuck shoots back, but he’s smiling a little broader now. Raleigh rubs his shoulders, his hands lingers against the scars. “Raleigh?”

 

Raleigh aligns himself against Chuck’s back, kissing down his neck and the top of his back. “We’ve never had sex like this, huh.” Chuck snickers against him, raising his hips to grind against him, and then freezes. “What’s wrong?”

 

“The door.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“The _door_ you fucking idiot. Lock it. We’ve got _kids_.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Herc is kind of incredibly awesome.

The two of them are jolted awake the morning after when a heavy weight _thumps_ down between them. Chuck scrambles up, and Raleigh starts reaching for the gun in the compartment below their bed when he realizes it’s Brian.

 

“Brian?” Chuck says, blinking. He looks up at Raleigh, at the wide-open door, and says, “How’d you get in?”

 

Brian blinks, his eyes bright. “The doooor, mommy.” He says, rolling his eyes. “How _else_ would I get in?”

 

“I _told_ someone to lock it last night,” Chuck hisses in Raleigh’s direction. Raleigh grabs the first piece of clothing he can find nearby – it’s his boxers, and he slides it on, finds Chuck’s and shoves it in his direction under the blanket.

 

Chuck’s midway sliding his boxers on himself and trying to keep up with Brian’s chatter when the door swings open again, and Herc and Jim walk in. Chuck and Raleigh both freeze. “ _Bloody fucking hell._ ”

 

Jim takes one glance at them, and all Raleigh can think is _he’s 15, he definitely knows what we did, holy shit what do I do_ , but Jim shrugs, unimpressed, and pulls in the breakfast tray he’s carrying. Herc, on the other hand, looks like he’s going to kill someone, and Raleigh’s fairly sure who the victim’s going to be. Jim beats Herc to whatever he might say. “You two should go wash up while we set up.”

 

They sprint to the bathroom. “ _I told you to lock the door_ ,” Chuck hisses, drawing his bathrobe around himself.

 

“I swear I did.” Raleigh hisses back, pulling on his own bathrobe. “Oh, god. Your dad’s going to murder me. And _Jimmy_. He knows.”

 

Chuck takes his toothbrush and rubs his teeth vigorously, until a burst of yellow feathers tackles him in the knees. “Ow. Brian!” He spits out a wad of toothpaste and rinses his mouth out.

 

“You were taking sooooo looong.” Brian pouts, flapping his tiny wings to get to Chuck’s eye level. “The eggs are getting cold! And the toast! And the sausages! And the coff-“

  
“All right, kiddo. We get the point.” Raleigh snatches Brian, who giggles delightedly as Raleigh carries him out, Chuck drawing his robe tightly around him. Jim and Herc are settled into the bed already, digging into their plates. “Why the breakfast in bed?”

 

Brian squeezes in between his grandfather and his older brother and speaks up proudly, “It was my idea! Because I don’t like it when mommy’s sad.”

 

Chuck smiles as he sits down next to Herc, looking sincerely touched. “Best part about having kids,” he says, reaching over to ruffle Brian’s hair. Breakfast is a loud thing, with Chuck smiling throughout the entire thing. He grins unabashedly when Brian giggles and Jim smiles at Herc and Raleigh’s banter.

 

Raleigh smiles, and leans over to kiss Chuck. “You look happy.”

 

“I _am_ happy. And fuck that bitch.”

 

“ _Language_ ,” Herc says, slapping his fork onto Chuck’s thighs as Brian laughs delightedly.

 

\--

 

“Uh. Jim. About this morning.” Raleigh doesn’t really know how to approach it. Herc, Chuck, and Brian are in their yard, Brian chasing Max around the yard. Jim had volunteered to do the dishes for their too-big breakfast, and Raleigh rubs his neck.

 

Jim raises an eyebrow, looking amused. “It’s fine. You two have sex, it’s expected. You two are happily married. I’d be worried if you two weren’t having sex.” He goes back to his dishes, and Raleigh rubs his neck again. Jim is way too mature for his age, probably shaped by his environment.

 

“Jim.” Raleigh smiles, ruffling Jim’s hair. “Thanks.”

 

“For?”

 

“Growing up so well. I didn’t raise you, but I’m glad you’re the way you are right now. On that note, though, you, Chuck and I are going to sit down and have a talk about your suspension.” Jim’s face falls. “You’re not off the hook yet, mister.”

 

Jim makes a pout that can give Brian a run for his money, but Raleigh flicks his forehead until Jim’s sulking. Jim’s still a kid, Raleigh reminds himself, no matter how mature he might want to seem. His thoughts are interrupted by a loud laughter from outside, and he looks to see Herc and Brian trying to wrestle Chuck up to the air. It hits Raleigh that they haven’t gone flying with the kids yet, and Chuck hasn’t gone flying in months. “I respect mom. A lot. He’s only a few years older than me, but… he’s a lot more mature than people think he is.”

 

Raleigh smiles. “Yeah. Chuck is kind of awesome like that. He’s… well, he’s pretty underdeveloped emotionally.” He winks at Jim, who snickers. “But… he’s special. He understands things most people have a hard grasp of getting. I’m not talking about being studious, or anything of that sort, even though Chuck’s smart. Well. Let me just put it this way. When told he was going to be giving up his life for the world, he didn’t question it. For him, it was just something he should do, for the rest of the world. Most people can’t do that. Also, he was the one who wanted to adopt an older kid.”

 

“He thinks differently.” Jim says, putting the dishes on the drying rack and turning around. “He’s amazing, dad. You’re amazing. So’s grandpa. I… I don’t know how I got here, but I’m glad it happened.”

 

Raleigh pulls Jim into a headlock and ruffles his hair. Jim yells indignantly at him, but Raleigh grins. “Don’t think you’ve gotten out of talking about your suspension, kid.”

 

Jim groans dejectedly.

 

\--

 

“No punching other kids.” Chuck says, narrowing his eyes. “Even if said kids are the snobbiest little pieces of shit I’ve seen.”

 

Herc, sitting on the side couch, narrows his eyes. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be scolding Jim or scolding _you_.”

 

“This is highly ineffective with you right here.” Chuck hisses at his father. “How am I supposed to scold my kid when you’re yelling at me?”

 

“From what I hear, the kid deserved the punch.” Herc rolls his eyes when Chuck glares. Raleigh and Jim stay wisely silent. “Listen, Jimmy. What’s my title?”

Jim looks adorably confused. “The Marshal of the Sydney PPDC.”

 

“Right. Which is the HQ of the entire PPDC. I command a worldwide military group, not to mention that I’ve been a solider more than half my life. Trust me when I say violence should never be the answer. I’ve seen things. But,” he looks at Chuck, and Chuck’s eyebrows are drawn. “Sometimes, people hurt your family. If they hurt your mom, your dad, or your little brother, you go ahead and punch the living daylights out of them.”

 

“ _Dad_ ,” Chuck hisses, sounding horrified.

 

Apparently Chuck’s mortification passes unknown to Jim (Raleigh thinks Jim chooses to ignore it), because his eyes are twinkling when he asks, “But what about you?”

 

Herc grins. “Kiddo, I’m the strongest man in this family. Nothing hurts me.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incorporates a part of a comment I had on Ch 3 :3

They haven’t gone flying, Raleigh realizes, since they adopted the kids. It’s been well over a year now, and Chuck’s been stubbornly landlocked. Herc’s been taking Jim out to fly, teaching him all the grace and technique he has, and Raleigh’s been helping Brian actually fly and not just flap his wings around the house.

“Daddy,” Brian whispers to him one day, tugging him down so Raleigh has to bend down. “Can mommy not fly?”

Raleigh picks Brian up. “No, honey. Mommy just doesn’t like flying.”

Brian looks scandalized. “But why?”

Chuck doesn’t fly. He keeps his two feet planted on the ground, walking if Raleigh isn’t available to drive him anywhere. He helps Jim and Brian with homework, kicks around in the PPDC once in a while, and carries on everyday, normal life. Just on the ground. His white wings stay stubbornly folded, opening only when Raleigh preens them. 

\--

But Raleigh doesn’t have time to worry about that, because one day when he gets back home, Chuck is trying to scold Jim for his grades. Jim’s been strangely distracted as of late, and Raleigh can’t figure it out for the life of him. Chuck’s obviously trying to talk to him to figure it out, but just as Raleigh walks into the kitchen, Jim snaps, “You’re not my real mom, anyway. You’re only nine years older than me, what do you know?”

Chuck looks thunderstruck, and Jim looks like he’s horrified at what he himself said. Raleigh freezes because he doesn’t know what to do, but in moments Jim has ran away. Raleigh chases after him, half-afraid Jim’s going to run away, but Jim runs up to his room and locks the door. Raleigh catches Brian and plops him down out in the yard with Max. “Your mission, Brian,” he tells Brian, “is to make sure Jimmy doesn’t fly out anywhere, okay?”

Brian nods, his eyes wide. Max sits determined next to him, and the two of them stare up at Jim’s window with resolution. Raleigh runs back to the kitchen where Chuck is…

Chuck is doing the dishes.

Raleigh doesn’t know what to do. “Chuck?”

“Yeah.” Chuck’s voice is shaking. In fact, Raleigh realizes his entire body is shaking, and he’s been scrubbing away at a plate that looks spotless already. Raleigh approaches cautiously and slides the plate out of Chuck’s hand, places it back on the drying rack. Chuck stares at the water as it runs in the sink, and Raleigh shuts it off. “I’m okay.”

“It’s okay not to be okay.” Raleigh says, half-expecting Chuck to run away and lock himself up in his room again. But Chuck doesn’t. He’s pale as paper and shaking, but he stays. “What’s wrong?”

Chuck finally looks up from the sink. “I…” He rubs his wrists, almost angrily. More like desperately, Raleigh thinks. “I don’t… I’m a parent, now. Been one, since a year ago. It’s not – I shouldn’t get all pissed because of a fight I had with my own kid. It’s not… what a parent does. I just – I mean, Jimmy’s right. I don’t blame him for saying what he did. Maybe that’s why his grades have been dropping lately. I don’t know.” He sighs, and Raleigh leads him to the couch in the living room. From here, they can see Brian, staring unblinkingly at his brother’s window, hugging Max. The sight makes Chuck laugh a little. 

Raleigh pulls Chuck close to him. “He didn’t mean it, Chuck.” 

“I know.” Chuck leans onto his shoulder. “I’m going to become a better parent, Ray.”

Raleigh smiles and holds Chuck closer. “It’s Rah-leigh.”

“Whatever. Ray.”

\--

Raleigh calls Herc, tells him quietly what happened. Herc is over in a matter of hours, during which Brian had stood watch over Jim’s window. Herc ruffles Brian’s hair as Brian hides his face in Herc’s leg. “Hey, Jim.” Herc knocks at the door, quietly. “May I come in?”

There’s silence for a while, and Chuck is biting his lip to shreds at the bottom of the stairs, listening intently. Raleigh’s at the top of it, mostly out of sight, and Brian is hugging Max, squeezing him to death at Herc’s side. (Max, being the trooper he is, is staying silent throughout the squeeze.) Raleigh sees the door open, but doesn’t see Jim. He does, however, hear the teenager. “Grandpa.” Jim’s been crying – his voice is all watery, and Herc sighs. 

Herc doesn’t say anything, but from the rustling sound Raleigh figures he’s ruffling Jim’s hair. “Brian, go down to your ma and pa. I’m gonna spend some time with Jim, yeah?”

“Okay, grandpa.” Brian says, finally letting Max go enough for the bulldog to breathe. Brian leans past Raleigh’s line of sight. “Don’t be sad, Jimmy. I can’t be mad at you for making mommy sad if you’re sad, too.”

The door shuts after a watery laugh, and Brian comes to Raleigh, a pout set on his lips. Raleigh picks him up, nods at Chuck who crumbles in relief, and walks silently down the stairs. “Why are you mad, Bri?”

“Cause mommy’s sad.”

Chuck laughs, a little shaky, but laughs. “I’m not sad, Bri. I’m just worried about Jim. Let’s get you some cookies for a mission accomplished.” He takes Brian into his arms from Jim’s. “How many do you think you deserve?”

Brian thinks hard, and then announces, “Nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine!”

Raleigh laughs. He can’t help it. Brian’s recently learned to count up to the hundreds in school, and then Chuck had taught him thousand, so 9,999 is literally the highest Brian can count to. He’s been using it liberally lately, either to show off that he can count higher than his 1st grade classmates or just because he wants to. “You really think you can eat 9,999 cookies, buddy?” Chuck snorts, walking to where they keep the cookie jar. “If you can really eat it, I’ll give you 9,999. But if you can’t, you gotta owe me whatever you leave behind.”

Brian takes this new development into consideration, and then says, sulkily, “Okay, I’ll take 20.” Twenty is still a lot, definitely way more than they allow normally, but Chuck allows it for the day. Brian has been sitting out in the yard for two hours. Chuck pours out a glass of milk to go with the plate of cookies, and it’s all so heartachingly domestic. Raleigh wishes Jim and Herc were with them. Brian takes a napkin, sets 5 of the cookies on the napkin, and takes the plate. “I’m going to take this to grandpa and Jimmy.”

Raleigh and Chuck stares, and then Raleigh grins. “Yeah, buddy. How about we give them 5 more, and you can have 5 more, too, when you come back down?”

Brian beams when Chuck fishes him the 10 cookies, setting five on the plate and five on the napkin. Brian flaps his wings up the stairs, knocks. Raleigh and Chuck stay silent as the door clicks open. “For you and Jimmy, grandpa.” They hear Herc laugh fondly. In moment Brian flies back down, settles himself on the floor next to Max with his napkin, and demands Max get some treats, too.

Chuck collapses on the couch after that, evidently exhausted, and a few minutes later, he’s asleep to the sound of Brian and Max crunching through their food. Raleigh tugs Chuck’s slippered feet onto the couch and positions him so he’s lying down, tucks a cushion under his head and pulls a thin sheet over him. Brian comes up to him. “Daddy, want a cookie?”

“You can eat it, honey.”

Brian chomps down on it, looking a little grateful Raleigh didn’t accept. “Is mommy really not sad?” He looks thoughtful as he carefully looks over Chuck, sleeping soundly. 

“Yeah, Bri. He just wants the best for the two of you.”

“I know that.” Brian says, solemnly. “He’s my mommy. Of course he does. Jimmy knows it, too. He’s just stupid.”

Raleigh breaks the remaining pieces of the cookie off and Brian looks up like he’s lost the world. “What did I say about calling your brother stupid, Brian?”

Brian pouts. “I didn’t mean it.”

“Sure you didn’t, kiddo.” Raleigh hands him the cookie-piece back anyway. “What do you say we cook dinner for your mom and brother?”

\--

They decide on steak salmon because that’s what’s in the fridge. (Why that’s in there, Raleigh has no idea, and then remembers Mako put it there.) Brian mostly flutters about putting too much salt on everything, but they manage to put together a decent meal. Raleigh leaves Brian the task of waking up his other parent, and makes his way up slowly to the upper floor. “It’s me.” He says at Jim’s door, knocking.

The door creaks open. Jim sniffles, eyes red. “Hey, kid.” He says, grinning down at his son. “Wanna come down for dinner? We got salmon steak.” When Jim doesn’t respond, just sniffles, Raleigh kneels. “Hey, Jim. I’m not condoning yelling at your mom. But I do want you to know this. You are our son. And that makes you the perfect son. And hey, I know we aren’t perfect parents, but points for effort?” 

He offers Jim a lopsided grin and is rewarded by a tackle to his chest when Jim hugs him. Herc grins at him, nodding once before ruffling Jim’s hair. Downstairs, Jim sits next to Chuck and mumbles, “Sorry, mom. I didn’t mean any of it. I love you.”

Chuck grins, kisses Jim’s head, and they all dig in.

\--

Exactly two days after that is Saturday, and Herc suggests they go flying. Chuck doesn’t say anything. “Come on, kiddo. We’ll have fun.”

Chuck follows, only because Jim and Brian look so excited. While Raleigh drives, Chuck whispers to him, “What if I forgot how?” He looks pretty horrified. Raleigh fights to keep his grin down. So that was Chucks worry.

“You never forget, Chuck.” Raleigh takes Chuck’s hand and squeezes it tightly. “Plus, you’ve got Herc’s genes.”

“Eyes on the road and two hands on the wheel, daddy!” Brian squeals from the back, and Raleigh catches Herc’s smug grin in the rearview mirror.

\--

They spread the picnic blanket and Max jumps all over it. Chuck has to literally wrestle with the bulldog to keep him from getting into the basket, and Brian laughs delightedly, diving at Chuck to join in the fight. Jim, because he’s above it all, apparently, goes to Herc for more flying-grace lessons. 

“He’s getting pretty good, huh.” Raleigh says, shielding his eyes so he can see Jim in the air. Even so high up, they’re easily distinguishable because Herc’s wings are so huge. Jim doesn’t have the grace that comes with the expertise that his grandfather has, but he’s pretty good for a 16 year old. “Wanna go for a fly, kiddo?” Raleigh sweeps Brian up by his waist.

“I wanna go with mommy!” Brian says, reaching out to grab at the closest thing. It happens to be Chuck’s left wing. When Raleigh swings him around, the pure-white feather comes off in Brian’s fingers. Raleigh doesn’t realize that they’ve come off until Brian lets out a shriek.

It’s loud and scared enough to bring Herc and Jim right down. “What’s wrong?” Chuck demands, scrambling to his feet. “Did Raleigh hurt you? Raleigh, I told you not to horse around with the kids like that.”

Brian holds out his hands, wailing. The feathers in them are crumpled from his tiny fists and dyed crimson. “I – I hurt mommy!”

Herc stares, and then laughs. Chuck snorts and ruffles Brian’s hair. Jim looks horrified, and Raleigh realizes they’ve never seen Chuck’s feathers come off. Herc kneels. “Look, kiddo.” He tugs Chuck down so Brian can see. “No blood here. Your ma’s weird, and his feathers just do that.” To demonstrate, he plucks a feather from Chuck’s wings. Jim and Brian stare as the white turns a blood red in Herc’s hand. 

Jim and Brian are wide-eyed, Brian surprised out of his misery. “This is normal?” Jim asks quietly, reaching out to touch Chuck’s wing. “You’re not hurt?” 

“No, it just does that. You should’ve seen Raleigh’s face when he first found out, though.” Chuck snickers. “It was pretty priceless.” He plucks a feather out to hand to Jim. Jim watches it fade rapidly to a dark red and stares. “No one knows why it does that. It just does.”

“Is that why you can’t fly?” Brian quips, blinking innocently. 

Chuck snorts. “No, I can fly. I just. I just suck at it.”

Herc stares. Brian and Jim stare. It’s understandable, really. It’s the first time Chuck has admitted he’s not good at something out loud to anyone else other than Raleigh. Raleigh kind of feels special all of a sudden, and Chuck glares at the three of them, daring them to say something.

Jim finally concludes, “It’s okay if you’re not that good. Fly with us, mom.” Brian nods enthusiastically, flapping up into the air with his tiny wings. He starts fluttering around them, leaving bright yellow feathers all over Max as he runs in circles below Brian. 

Chuck can’t help it – he grins. “Okay. What’s family for, anyway, right?”

Herc lifts off first, flapping his huge wings twice to get airbourne. Chuck watches a little in awe as his father spreads his wings. In all seriousness, Herc’s wings are majestic from far, and even daunting up close. They’re not only the biggest wings Raleigh has seen in his life, but also the deepest black. It’s kind of a wonder how Herc’s genes gave birth to Chuck’s white wings.

Jim follows his mentor eagerly, taking a running start at first but taking off easily, tugging Brian up with him. Chuck shuffles his feet and Raleigh grins. “Need a lift?”

“Sod off.” Chuck grouses, but he doesn’t say anything when Raleigh wraps two arms firmly around his waist. He strains a little to take off, but he’s airborne and gaining altitude fast. When he catches up to the rest of his family, Brian watches curiously, Herc hovering nearby because he still can’t come to terms with the fact that Brian can handle himself on tiny wings. Raleigh holds onto Chuck, and Chuck spread his wings.

Raleigh’s forgotten how breathtaking it is, to see Chuck’s wings fully open in daylight. His wing positively glow, like they’re luminescent. It’s almost blinding to see when sunlight hits it at a certain angle. Chuck fumbles for a bit, but as Raleigh’s said, you never really forget how to fly. He’s not as good of a flier as he is a Jaegar pilot (to be honest, Chuck is such a good of a Jaegar pilot that he’s not as good of an anything as he is a pilot), but he manages.

He flies alongside a delightedly squealing Brian, and a grinning Jim. Herc looks proud and awed at the same time as Jim keeps making sure to see Chuck’s actually okay and that his feathers turning crimson doesn’t mean he’s gonna die any second.

Brian flies over to Raleigh, leaving Jim and Chuck to fly themselves. Herc is still watching his son like there’s nothing else in the world. “Daddy,” Brian says, tugging Raleigh close to whisper in his ear. “I think mommy’s actually an angel.”


End file.
